Union vote means county workers will bargain collectively

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/47442.php

Published: 04.06.2007
Union vote means county workers will bargain collectively
GARRY DUFFY
Tucson Citizen

Pima County workers approved representation by the Service Employees International Union this week, setting the stage for the first face-to-face labor negotiations between employees and top county management.
Union representation was voted for Tuesday and Wednesday by 1,163 county employees, with a scant 70 workers voting against.
About 4,500 county rank-and-file workers were eligible to vote.
"We're going to be contacting the county administrator Mr. (Chuck) Huckelberry to meet with him personally," said Dave Mitchell, of SEIU No. 5 today.
That will occur during the county's annual budgeting process in which department heads submit allocation requests for the coming fiscal year that starts July 1.
One area union representatives will address is workers' health care benefits. Employees have seen coverage cut back with premiums rising for the past several years, Mitchell said.
Huckelberry on Thursday said he anticipated the union being approved by workers and that he will meet with union representatives to hear their concerns.
This is the first large-scale unionization vote by county workers.